Chapter 24

"Has she woken up yet?" I heard a man's voice.

"No." This one was a boy. He sounded a little older than me. I tried to open my eyes but they were being difficult. I groaned and tried again.

They complied and I was immediately overcome with bright light.

"She's awake!" I heard the boy call. I lifted my hand to shield my eyes and blinked a few times. My eyes adjusted and I sat up quickly.

I looked around. I was on a couch. There was a chair beside me. Sitting on it was a boy that I recognized as Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff seeker. "Where am I?" I asked him.

"My dad and I saw you collapse in the forest." He told me. "We took you to our house and my mum healed your injuries." I put my hand to my upper arm at the mention of the pain.

"Thank you." I said before my curiosity got the better of me. "What were you doing in the forest?"

"My dad, Amos, loves to take me camping." He explained. "What about you?" Oh shite. What do I tell him? Then a thought struck me like a hammer.

"Where's my bag?!" I cried worriedly and started looking around franticly. What if they read the parchment? What if they left my bag?

"Calm down, it's right here." He said gently as he picked it up from the spot next to the couch and handed it to me. I ripped it open and looked inside. Everything was there and it all looked undisturbed. I closed it and sighed in relief. Cedric was giving me a calculating look.

Cedric's dad walked in with a tray carrying three cups of tea. "Now then," He said. "Why don't you tell us who you are and what happened to you." He looked expectantly at me.

"Umm. I'm Joanne Rogers. I go to Hogwarts." I told them. I saw recognition flash in Cedric's eyes.

"I know you!" He exclaimed. "You're on the Gryffindor quidditch team. Chaser right?" I nodded.

"You're Cedric right? Hufflepuff seeker?" I asked. He nodded and smiled at me.

"So what were you doing in the forest?" Cedric's dad, Amos, asked as he handed me a teacup. Dam! Up until now I had avoided the question.

"I can't remember." I lied. Cedric knew I was lying. I don't know how he knew but he knew. His dad seemed fine with my answer though.

"You poor girl." Amos said. "That's probably because of the concussion you had." I nodded.

"Well, thank you for looking after me but I have to go now." I said as I tried to get up off the couch. Amos pushed me back down though.

"No. No." He told me. "I have strict orders from my wife, you are too weak to leave yet."

"I'm fine." I insisted. "You've done enough for me." I tried to stand again but this time I fell back down on my own.

"Nonsense!" Amos cried. "You should stay here for a few more days, I insist." I suppose I had no places I had to be. I had plenty of time to rob the ministry. I might not do that though. The reason I didn't want to stay is I was worried that they would find out what I've been up too. Amos didn't seem too nosey but I wasn't so sure about Cedric. I just gave in and nodded.

"Brilliant!" Amos said. "Well, I have to go to work but Cedric will keep you company." He then got up and left the house.

"You lied." Cedric said as soon as his dad was gone. It wasn't a question.

"No I didn't." I argued. "I really can't remember anything."

"Why were you so worried about your bag then?" He asked me.

"It has my stuff in it."

"What's in it?" He persisted. I need to say something to get him to leave me alone.

"My underwear." I blurted. He blushed and stopped arguing with me. "Now, where is the bathroom?"

"Down the hall, first door on your right." He explained. He smiled at him before picking up my bag and going to the bathroom.

As soon as I shut the door, I took my trunk out of my pocket and enlarged it. I was going to have to be quick. I stepped inside my apartment. First I went to the library. I put the scroll I took from the cave between some books on a bookshelf. Then I put my notepad on the shelf next to the Latin/English dictionary. I would have to look at those later. I put the rope on one of my other shelfs and went back into the kitchen. Lastly, I performed the spell that shows the date.

I gasped. I entered the cave five days ago. I've been unconscious for almost five days! Not all at once though. I don't know how long I was unconscious after I fell down the stairs. I quickly stepped out of my trunk and shrunk it again. I opened the door and saw Cedric standing right outside. "Can't a girl get any privacy?" I demanded. He had the decency to look sheepish.

"You were in there for a while and I wanted to make sure you were okay." He said quietly. I sighed and walked back to the couch.

"So how's your holiday going?" That was my awkward attempt at making conversation. I never really had the social skills my mum always wanted me to have. I did get a conversation started though. We talked for a long time about quidditch and stuff. He kept trying to not so subtly make me slip up and give him clues as to why I was in the forest. I would always avoid the question or answer half truths.

That didn't deter him though. He kept trying. I found him really easy to talk to. I felt I could trust him. Maybe I should tell him. But it just didn't feel right for some reason. I decided it wouldn't be a good idea to let him in on my secrets. I don't know how trustworthy he really is.

Cedric's mum came home in the afternoon. She was a kind woman. She reminded me a lot of Madame Pomfrey though because she kept trying to make me lye down. She said I was still weak. I felt fine but I humored her anyway.

...

I ended up staying at Cedric's for a few days. I managed to keep Cedric in the dark despite all his interrogating. He did cut it out the last day. I think he liked having the company. Not many people lived in his area.

My original idea to get some planning done turned out to be a bust. I completely forgot about my To-do-list. Even if I had tried to plan, Cedric wouldn't let me out of his sight. He was still a little suspicious of me.

It took some serious persuasive speaking, but I finally managed to get Cedric's mum to let me leave. I convinced her I was fine. She was such a sweet woman. Very caring. She reminded me of my own mum. I felt a twang of sadness at the thought of my mother. I wish I could see her again. That was next on my list actually. To see my parents. It would also confirm my theory on Harry Potter being history and not a story. If I was in a different world my parents wouldn't be there. If I'm just in the past like I believe they will be there. They would be younger but they would be there.

Anyway, I tried to give the Diggorys money for their help but they refused. I left a bag of galleons in their fruit bowl. They will find it when I'm gone. Cedric and I would become friends and we agreed to catch up at Hogwarts next year.

At the moment, I was in London. Amos Diggory had apparated me there. I hailed a taxi. I was going to the town where I grew up. I figured that was the best place to start looking for my parents.

My Mum and Dad don't have me for five more years. They aren't even dating yet. I don't know much about where my parents were before they had me. I knew that my grandparents hadn't moved in over twenty years though so I knew that was a good place to start my search.

...

Soon the taxi dropped me off outside my grandparents house. My grandmother had died a few years ago (In my time). So it was going to be odd seeing her again. How I missed her. Though I suppose I could only see her from a distance. I can't get too close. The results could be bad. I learned that much from Hermione's lectures on time travel stories she had read about.

The only problem was I had no idea how I was going to do what I needed to without at least talking to them. The answer to my problems came in the form of a sign in the widow. On it were only a few simple words: Bed and Breakfast. Perfect! Now that I think about it, I remember stories that my grandparents used to tell me about all the strange people they met. One was about a little girl who showed up alone with no bags but lots of money. They always used to look at each other knowingly when they told me about that one.

Maybe they knew it was me. After all my grandmothers mum was a squib. She might have known all about magic and time travel. How strange. I guess I was meant to do this. I walked up to the front door and knocked loudly.

...